Using the bundle as cover, she took out several boxes of cookies from her storage space and stuffed them into her son's hand, saying, "Go, share them with everyone."
Lin Laosan smiled and took it, and was about to distribute it to everyone when a tall, thin boy carrying a bedding roll squeezed in.
He shouted in a thick Sichuan accent, "Hello everyone! My name is Zhao Dachuan!" Then he plopped down on the edge of the bed, the wooden bed creaking under his weight. "Wow! This bed is sturdy enough!"
The young people quickly became acquainted.
Zhou Jianguo pulled a bag of roasted sunflower seeds from his canvas bag and placed it on the dormitory table; Chen Yongming took out his crumpled timetable and discussed the professor of calculus with everyone; Zhao Dachuan gesticulated wildly as he told everyone about the funny things that happened on the train, making everyone laugh.
Lin Li stood by the door, watching her son gradually relax, and a smile appeared on her face.
Looking at Lin Laosan, surrounded by his friends and with his eyes shining, she finally realized that the timid and submissive boy in her memory, who would only hide behind his siblings for attention, had grown up!
The midday sun shone through the dormitory windows, bathing everyone's faces in a golden glow.
Lin Laosan suddenly stood up, walked to Lin Li's side, and introduced her to his friends in a loud and proud voice: "This is my mother. She brought me here specially!"
Hello, Auntie!
Several boys straightened their backs and greeted Lin Li in unison!
"good!"
Lin Li smiled and looked at the energetic young men. "It's almost noon, let's go to the cafeteria for lunch!"
"good!"
Then……
Lin Li stood in the center, leading a group of boys toward the student cafeteria!
"Auntie, if the third brother hadn't introduced you, I would have always thought you were his older sister. You look so young!"
"Sister? I thought she was the third brother's girlfriend!"
"Hahaha! I thought it was the third brother's sister!"
...
Lin Li was completely lost in their sweet words, unable to extricate herself!
"Auntie, we should go to the logistics department to exchange for food coupons before we can go to the canteen to get food!"
Chen Yongming stopped in his tracks after seeing Lin Li leading them directly towards the cafeteria.
"Huh? Go to the logistics department first!"
Lin Li was completely flustered; she had forgotten to ask about it in her excitement!
"Yes, I specifically inquired about it. We need to go to the logistics department first to transfer the grain certificates that everyone got from their hometowns to the school, and then exchange them for school-specific student grain coupons before we can get food."
Chen Yongming nodded affirmatively. After finding out the details, he initially planned to exchange the items first, but then he thought that some of his classmates in the dormitory probably didn't know about it, so he decided to exchange them together with everyone.
"Okay, let's go to the logistics department first."
Lin Li smiled at Chen Yongming, thinking, "This young man is easy to get along with!"
So, the group of people turned around and headed towards the logistics department.
Before even reaching the logistics department, I saw that the windows were crowded with people, and colorful meal tickets were placed in a metal box on the cement platform.
Everyone lined up in turn, holding the certificates issued by their hometown communes, and orderly exchanged them for Tsinghua University student food coupons.
After a long wait, it was finally Lin Laosan's turn. He handed the certificate in his hand to the old man wearing blue cloth armbands at the window.
After taking the certificate and examining it for a while, the old man pushed over a pile of tickets printed with the school emblem.
"It weighs 32 jin in total, count it!"
"Um!"
Just as Lin Laosan was about to get his grain coupons, he was bumped by a girl wearing a white dress and with two ponytails.
"Sir, could you please exchange it for me first? I need to use my food coupons to eat!"
"Little girl, go join the line. Look how many people are queuing up behind you!"
The old man didn't even look up before calling out to Chen Yongming, who was behind Lin Laosan, "Next."
Lin Laosan quickly put away the grain coupons on the cement windowsill and made room for them.
Unexpectedly, the little girl blocked his way, looking at him with a bright smile, "Excuse me, could you lend me some food coupons? I need them urgently."
Lin Laosan shook his head. He only had 32 jin of grain coupons, and he had to use them sparingly.
The little girl's smile froze on her face, and anger slowly crept onto her pretty face.
From childhood to adulthood, no boy has ever directly refused her request; she has always been the apple of their eye.
This time, the boy rejected her!
A strong competitive spirit rose within her, especially after seeing Lin Laosan reject her and hand over the grain coupons in his hand to a woman older than her.
Although the woman had fair and delicate skin with a natural rosy complexion.
Her large, clear eyes, paired with a small, straight nose, and two tiny dimples that are faintly visible at the corners of her mouth when she smiles.
But it's obvious that she's at least four or five years older than him. Does he prefer women older than himself?
The little girl walked aggressively up to Lin Li and her son, looked Lin Li up and down, and said with a disdainful expression.
"Sister, he's at Tsinghua University now, so you need to be careful around him. Be careful, he might dump you soon enough; men are all the same!"
After saying that, she tossed her head back, gave Lin Laosan a disdainful look, her long braids flying in the air, and turned to leave.
? ? ?
Lin Laosan looked at the departing girl with a bewildered expression.
What did she mean?
Lin Li was also stunned for a moment before she came to her senses.
Does the young girl mean she's Lin Laosan's girlfriend? She looks so young now!
Hahaha!
She didn't know whether to laugh or get angry!
Forget it, I won't argue with a young girl. Getting angry will only give me wrinkles. Let her just smile happily!
Lin Laosan turned his head and saw that Lin Li's smile had deepened, making him even more confused!
Chen Yongming and his two companions walked over, looking at Lin Li who was laughing heartily and Lin Laosan who looked completely bewildered. "What's wrong with you? We've already exchanged our food coupons. Let's go to the canteen for lunch!"
"It's okay, let's go to the cafeteria!"
Lin Li tried hard to suppress the smile on her lips, but she couldn't hide the joy in her eyes.
After passing through the red brick and gray tile teaching building, the group finally saw the cafeteria.
This Soviet-style building is topped with green glazed tiles, and a faded "Practice Thrift" slogan hangs under the eaves. Two old locust trees in front of the door rustle in the wind.
The small blackboard above the iron gate displays today's menu in chalk: stewed cabbage and tofu (0.15 yuan/serving), braised ribbonfish (0.3 yuan/serving), and steamed corn bread (0.02 yuan/each).
Zhao Dachuan stood on tiptoe counting, then suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "There's fish! We can have some meat today!"
Several boys walked quickly into the cafeteria.
The canteen was filled with steam and the aroma of food, and the white-painted wall was covered with the calligraphy "Who knows that every grain on the plate is the result of hard work?"
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